III. The Women Involved In Basel Mission Encounters On The Gold Coast

Abstract

When the Basel Mission resumed work on the Gold Coast in 1843, the project of a women's mission informed its policies with regard to women. This chapter introduces the female actors in the women's mission on the Gold Coast as a point of departure for analyzing the encounters between them. It begins with the main body of European women who were to join the Basel Mission - those from Wuerttemberg. The chapter follows them on their journey to the Gold Coast and reflects on the impact of the situation there. It gives a brief sketch of the situation of the Ghanaian women they met, introducing the contrast between the Mission's position in the coastal trading settlement of Christiansborg and the inland kingdom of Akuapem. This offers something of a map for situating the following more detailed analyses of actual encounters.Keywords: Akuapem; Basel Mission; Christiansborg; Ghanaian women; Gold Coast; Wuerttemberg